Wrong Room （29）

"Biggest party night of the year, and this is it?" Dani bitched, looking around the half-empty bar. It was already 11:30, so if it was going to get super-busy, it would've done so by now.

"Don't complain. I'd much rather it be like this than a bunch of drunken idiots falling all over the place and puking in the bathrooms."

"Yeah, but those drunken idiots are mostly hot college guys who usually end up shirtless. Oh wait, I forgot. You're too good for that. Too busy banging hockey gods." She poured a couple of beers, set them down at the end of the bar, opened a tab, and strutted back over to Amara with crossed arms. "So, you gonna tell me what happened to your face?"

"Shit," Amara said, turning to check it out in the mirror behind the bar. "My makeup didn't cover it all?"

"I mean, I'm right up on ya, so I can see it. It better not have been one of those boys. I'll kill ‘em."

"No, God no. Neither of them would ever." She let out a huge sigh and filled Dani in on the events of the past few days: Tyler's call-up, the fling in the arena bathroom, the fight with Jenna, the Gilgo Beach incident, and Ryan being sent to Worcester.

"Damn. And he said he didn't want to talk to you at all, for two weeks? That boy's heart is destroyed. Easy to understand why."

"What do you mean?"

"Baby girl, you know how he feels about you and you're still banging him? You're giving him all kinds of mixed signals."

"He was always Mr. ‘I can have sex with the whole planet and not feel anything.' I just thought…I don't know what I thought."

"You're messing with his head. I know you don't wanna, but you've gotta stop banging him. He's never gonna heal if you keep leading him on. Don't you want him to move on, to find his happiness? Then you gotta let him."

"I know." She took her phone out of her pocket and checked, half-expecting to see a message from Ryan, but there was nothing.

"So, baby face is back home?"

"Yeah. He came by today for a bit, right as Ryan was leaving."

"You've got the whole apartment to yourself. Maybe you should ask him to keep you company?"

"I was actually thinking about it. I wanna get with him again so bad I can taste it."

"Why don't you see if he's around? Listen, I can handle this crowd if you wanna take off."

"You sure?"

"Please, baby girl. I could run this whole place myself. See what he's up to."

She pulled out her phone to text him but froze. "I'm nervous."

"Nervous about what?"

"It just…it still feels like cheating on Ryan. Even though we're not together, it feels like it."

"Mar? You ain't gettin' any younger. If you wanna do something, do it. Besides, you think Ryan's not gonna slay a bunch of young, hot pussy out in Boston, or wherever the hell he's goin'?"

"He's probably doing it right now," Amara said, becoming irrationally jealous at the thought. "Fine," she said, biting the bullet.

A: Hey. Do you wanna come over tonight? I can leave work now.

T: We fuckin?

A: Yeah. I can't stop thinking about you.

T: Shit, I was just kidding. You serious?

A: Deadass. Bring condoms. Meet me at my place in about a half hour.

T: I fuckin came twice reading that last message. You're in trouble, woman.

She tucked her phone into her back pocket. "Done."

"Alright, baby girl. Here, let's split up the tips before you head out."

"Don't worry, I'll pick them up later."

"Damn. Can't wait to get at it, can ya?" Dani teased. "Have fun. And I expect a full report on Friday."

Amara grabbed her jacket, gloves, hat, and bag from the cabinet under the bar. "You got it. Have a good night."

"Not as good as yours. Fuckin' bitch."

Amara laughed, slung her bag over her shoulder, and headed towards the door.

"Hey! Don't tell me you're leaving. I was literally coming in here to see you."

Shit. Play it cool.

"Wait…Jake, right?"

"Yep. Amara. So, you're outta here?"

"Yeah, it's kinda dead, and I'm actually on my way to meet up with a friend."

"Damn. OK, well I'm just gonna go for it then. Can I take you out for coffee or something? That's way lame, I know. I just…I've kinda been thinking about you a little bit. It doesn't have to be coffee. Dinner, drinks, whatever you want."

"Um, yeah. I think…I think that would be nice."

"Yeah? Oh, good! Wow, I was so nervous you'd say no," he laughed. "What's your number? I'll send you a text so you have mine."

She told him, then checked the message he'd sent her.

J: It's a date, beautiful.

-Jake

"Well, hey. Have fun with your friend, and I'll be in touch. Happy Thanksgiving!"

"You too! See ya." She smiled as she walked away and headed towards the front door. As she stepped outside, the frigid Connecticut November air was like a punch in the stomach, and she hugged herself. She briefly wished she'd called an Uber, but decided that at this point, on the night before Thanksgiving, the walk, though freezing, would be a lot quicker.

"What the fuck took you so long? I'm out here freezin' my balls off."

She flipped around to see Tyler standing there. "Seriously? No one told you to come pick me up."

"You didn't think I was gonna let you walk home in this shit, did you? Come on, my truck's runnin' and I'm parked illegally."

She followed him to his truck, which was double-parked about a half-block from The Bull. He opened the door for her, and she climbed inside, where she was grateful that he'd blasted the heat and turned the seat warmer on for her. He got in, and before she'd even heard his door close, his lips were on hers.

She moaned as she felt his tongue rubbing against hers slowly. He knew exactly where to put it and how to move it, which excited her. His right hand snaked around the back of her head, and his left made its way up her thigh. She grabbed the sides of his face and pulled him deeper into the kiss, unable to get enough of him into her mouth. She wasn't sure how long they'd been at it, but they only stopped because someone honked at him to move.

"Alright, dickhead! I'm goin'!" he yelled, shifting into drive and pulling off.

She looked over at him, breathless. "I haven't been able to stop thinking about you. I thought once we hooked up, we'd get it out of our systems and that'd be it."

"Nope. So many things I didn't get to do to you yet. We make it out of the parking garage without my face in your pussy, it'll be a miracle."

"Ty, I just don't want this to ruin our friendship."

"I already told you it won't."

"I don't wanna go three days without talking to you again."

"Mar, you know why. It had nothing to do with us fucking, alright? Stop being so paranoid, like I'm fuckin' goin' somewhere. I'm not."

"I'm sorry. I just…I think I may have lost Ryan, and I don't wanna lose you, too."

"You didn't lose Rook. He's just figurin' some shit out. And you won't lose me. I promise you." He turned into the parking garage, found a spot, and turned the truck off. "Come on," he said, as they both got out. He grabbed her hand and held it as they entered the building and waited for the elevator. He was wearing sweatpants and, very clearly, nothing underneath.

"See somethin' you like?" he teased, noticing her staring.

"I see a lot of things I like," she replied, grabbing his other hand and leaning in to kiss him again. The elevator door opened, and they stepped on, continuing to kiss slowly until it reached the sixth floor, where they got off and she dragged him by the hand down the hallway toward her apartment door.

"Damn, woman. Slow down!" he laughed, trying to keep up with her.

"I'm sorry," she said, fumbling through her bag for her keys. "This is all I've thought about for weeks." She finally found them, got the door open, and dragged Tyler inside by his arm. Once the door was closed, she pushed him up against it and began kissing his neck as she tore open his jacket.

"Hold on," he said, pushing her hands away gently. "Clearly I'm gonna need some energy for you tonight." She continued to claw at him as he reached into the inside pocket of his jacket.

"Wanna slam a Red Bull? Think Ry has a few left in the fridge. He knows how much I hate those fucking things."

"Nah," he said, removing a small bag about a quarter of the way filled with white powder. Holding it open, he dipped a finger in and scooped. Before she could even say anything, he brought it to his nose, snorted, and it disappeared. He shook his head a few times and stuffed the bag back into the pocket of his jacket. "What?"

Amara crossed her arms and stared at him, as he removed his jacket and hung it over the back of one of the stools, running his fingers up and down his arms in a jerky motion. "So, you're that guy now?"

"What guy?" he said, moving close to her and reaching for her waist with twitchy hands. "If you mean the guy who's about to fuck you into a coma, then yes. I'm definitely that guy."

She blocked his hands. "You're a fucking cokehead now, Ty? This why we didn't talk for three days, because you were high outta your mind?"

He rolled his eyes, removed his hat, and tossed it onto the counter. "I really wish you'd get off my dick about it," he said, pacing in front of her. "I know what I'm doing. You don't need to act like my fuckin' mother all the time, you know."

"Do you? Because I've seen people destroy their lives because of this shit."

"Calm down! It's a little pre-sex bump. It feels amazin'. You wanna try? It's so fuckin' good, I'm tellin' you."

"Thanks, but no thanks. You know, maybe we should just call it a night," she said, tossing her hands up and making her way towards her bedroom.

Following her, he grabbed her arm and spun her around to face him. She noticed his pupils were beyond dilated. "Hey. I'm under mad stress lately. The tiniest bit takes some of the edge off, OK? I know what I'm doing. I've done it before, and I've never gotten addicted. I wouldn't lie to you, Amara. Come on, you really gonna send me home right now?" he asked, pressing her firmly against the wall. He reached for her hands, which were down at her sides, and ripped them up over her head, pinning her wrists there. His lips hovered in front of hers. "I mean, I can go home if you want."

She moved her lips forward, but he pulled back, tightening his grip on her wrists as he felt her trying to move them. "Ty," she whispered, as one hand stayed on her wrists while the other slid down the front of her body, stopping at the waist of her pants. He slipped a finger between the fabric and her skin, running it back and forth slowly as she tilted her head back and exhaled.

"What?" he asked. "Somethin' you want me to do?" He twisted his hand around so his palm was against her skin and shoved it down the front of her pants. Parting her legs instinctively for him, she felt him start to rub her through her underwear. "Why are you so wet for me, huh?" he whispered into her ear as he snaked his middle finger under her thong and pushed it inside her as far as it would go, curled it, and began rocking his hand back and forth.

"Shit," she whimpered, as he fingered her against the wall, her hands still pinned above her head.

He let go of her hands and removed his other hand from her, and she immediately went for his pants. "You missed it, didn't you?" he asked, as she flipped him around so his back was against the wall. She yanked his sweatpants down to his ankles and dropped to her knees in front of him, wrapping a hand around the base of his cock and slowly licking her way down from the tip, teasing him. "Fuck," he moaned, pressing his head back against the wall and running his fingers through her hair.

He let her lick up and down it for a little while, and as soon as she started to suck it, he pulled her away by her hair. "Get up," he instructed her, as he pulled his pants back up and she did as she was told. He reached for her hand and led her down the hallway, opening the door to Ryan's bedroom.

"Uh, wrong room, Ty," she told him, trying to move him away from the door, but he fought it.

"Nah. It's definitely the right room."

"No," she said, yanking her hand away and shaking her head. "No way!"

"Yes way. Come on, let me fuck you in his bed. You know how many times I've jerked off thinkin' about this?"

"Well, keep it in the spank bank then, because it's not happening."

"Please, babe?" he begged, wrapping his arms around her waist and leaning in to kiss her. At the same time, he quickly backed her up into Ryan's bedroom and shut the door behind them, leaving them in pitch dark.

Her other senses heightened by the loss of sight, she inhaled deeply, picking up on Ryan's scent as if he was standing right there next to them.